


Where are you?

by Magnonette



Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I suppose, Invisible Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Snusmumriken | Snufkin Has Paws and a Tail, Snusmumriken | Snufkin Whump, Whump, Whumptober 2020, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26898601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magnonette/pseuds/Magnonette
Summary: Winter time had been pretty good for Snufkin. He was now making his way back to the Valley, eager to see his friends again, but something unexpected happened, stopping him in his track.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948144
Kudos: 35





	Where are you?

**Author's Note:**

> Where Did Everybody Go? - “Don’t Say Goodbye” - Abandoned - Isolation

It had been close to Spring time. Snufkin had been on his way back to the Valley, happy with the times he’d spent alone and eager to see his dear friends again. It was then that he’d crossed path with them.

He’d only seen one person on the path but after passing by them he soon had noticed that he was being followed. When he’d wanted to start running they’d chased him down, catching him before he could escape, and forced him into this horrible orphanage.

From then on, his life was a living hell. He was locked away in a small room. They only gave him one meal per day, with as little as necessary. He spent most of the days locked away in this small room, alone, with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

Whenever they would come see him, it would be to hurt him, to tell him how useless he was, that he was a nobody, that nobody liked him and that it was why he’d been abandoned. They kept telling him that nobody would ever love him and that people like him would be better dead.

Snufkin had tried his best to ignore them, to fight back and not let them tell all these lies to him. But, as time went by, and as he was stuck there, taking ever horrible things they said to him and did to him, he started to disappear.

First, it was his paws and his tail. Then, it spread to his legs and arms, then slowly up his body and finally his head. His clothes were the only thing that stayed visible.

He’d tried so hard to not let what they were saying get to him, but, with time, and with the way they hurt him. Not matter how much he tried to ignore it, to deny it, he was still deeply hurt by what had happened when he was very young.

He knew that MymbleMamma hadn’t meant for this to happen, but she still lost him somehow. Not matter how much he tried to remind himself that it was just an accident that made him get lost, separated from his family, it still hurt. He also knew that Joxter hadn’t known about him, and that Mymble was too ashamed and thinking Snufkin was dead to tell him about this one.

All this talk about him being abandoned hurt him so much. It was like being stabbed in the hurt every time they said it. They knew they were hurting him by saying all these horrible things and kept on pushing it.

Meanwhile, in MoominValley, Winter slowly gave place to Spring. The Moomins and their friends woke up to find an empty campsite by the river. Now, it wasn’t so unusual as Snufkin often came back after a few hours in the first day of Spring.

Moomin took his usual place on the bridge to wait for his friend to come back, joined a little later by Snorkmaiden. He had a weird feeling about it this year, but he wanted to believe Snufkin would be back soon.

Snufkin wasn’t sure what day it was. Was it Spring yet? Maybe it was even Summer by now. He couldn’t tell. He was still stuck in the same room, feeling sick to the bones from the enclosure and from everything he was undergoing.

It had been a few days now, and Snufkin was still nowhere to be found. Moomin was moping around, only going out to go sit on the bridge, looking out towards the forest sadly. Snorkmaiden made sure to come by every day to try to keep him company, although everyone could tell she was as sad and worried as him.

“Where did Snufkin go” Moomin would mumble to himself as he went back home at night, tail dragging behind him in disappointment.

Snufkin could hear something going on in another room. It wasn’t the usual kids being scolded he could hear sometimes. It sounded like something unusual had happened, but he couldn’t tell what, and he didn’t feel like trying to listen more. He was so numb, hopeless, he couldn’t convince himself to even try.

The voices became louder and louder, coming closer. There was a commotion. He didn’t know what was happening when the door suddenly opened. 

Suddenly, as he looked up weakly to look at whoever had opened the door, he found himself in front of his father. Joxter looked shocked at the sight of Snufkin, or what was left of him. He stayed still for a stunned moment, before looking sadly at him and approaching him.

Joxter took Snufkin out almost immediately. He’d already taken Snufkin’s belongings and led him through the forest and to a partially hidden cave. There, he prepared camp, telling Snufkin to stay there while he did so, before making a small fire and sitting next to his son.

He stayed by his side, looking at him with worried and sad eyes. Snufkin just sat there, curled up on himself. He didn’t know what to do. It had been so long since he’d been outside, he didn’t know what to do now that he was there.

“I’m sorry.” Joxter finally said after a long silence. “I should have gotten there before.” He explained when Snufkin tilted his head towards him. 

Snufkin still seemed confused, Joxter could tell even if his face was invisible. He sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

“I had forebodings.” He said quietly, looking away from his son. “I knew something bad was going to happen to you, but I didn’t want to intrude. I thought I was probably worrying for nothing. I should have known better.”

Snufkin shook his head before curling up more on himself. Joxter took at as him saying that it wasn’t his fault, that he couldn’t have known.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Joxter sighed, approaching carefully Snufkin. 

He waited a little, to make sure that Snufkin could see him coming, before taking him in his arms. Snufkin was still for a moment, before relaxing a little and leaning into the embrace. Soon, his arms were coming up to wrap around his father in return.

“I’m here now. You’re free now.” Joxter said gently into Snufkin’s hair.

They stayed like that for a long moment. If Joxter could feel a wetness on his chest, he wasn’t saying anything about it. After long minutes, Joxter felt Snufkin’s weight against him. He’d cried himself to sleep. Joxter sighed sadly, taking hold of Snufkin to carry him inside the tent. He laid him under the blanket before laying next to him, stroking fondly Snufkin’s hair as he went to sleep.

The next few days, Joxter tried to help Snufkin get better. The simple fact of being finally free was already making a little more of him visible, starting from his feet and slowly coming up. Joxter was trying to not influence Snufkin too much, to let him recover his freedom.

It took only a few days for Snufkin to become almost fully visible again. His head had taken the longest to reappear, but he was still missing his tail, which he wasn’t too obvious as it was always mostly hidden by his smock.

Moomin and Snorkmaiden were still waiting on the bridge, not giving up on waiting for their friend to come back even after a full month of him being absent. They were sitting on the bridge, feet dangling above the water, looking sadly at the water flowing under them, the fish swimming beneath them.

They absently looked up from time to time to the path leading out of the forest, just in case he would be there. When they looked up again, they almost couldn’t believe it. Right there, on the path, just like they’ve been waiting for, was Snufkin, walking down the path towards them, with his father.

It took a moment for them to register that it was all real, that Snufkin was really there. When they finally recovered, they jumped to their feet and ran to him. They tackled him to the ground holding him tight as Joxter watched, laughing.

“I’m sorry for being late.” Snufkin mumbled in their arms, trying to free himself enough to breath. “Something stopped me from getting home.” 

“It’s okay.” They both said. “Just, don’t leave for a while. Please.”

“I won’t.” He said, leaning into the embrace, feeling their warm welcome lift away the last bit of hurt he’d felt ever since he was captured.

Next to them, Joxter watched as Snufkin’s tail came back to life, swaying happily behind him. He smiled fondly at the scene in front of him. Maybe they were still oblivious, but as long as they were happy, he was glad for them. He was glad Snufkin had found his home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you like it.
> 
> I've been seeing a lot of Invisible Snufkin fics and I've been meaning to write my own for a year now but I've been putting it to the side. It's really funny that this fic became an invisible Snufkin fic. It wasn't intended that way but it just became the perfect setup for it, so I jumped into it lol.
> 
> I hope I didn't tear your heart apart lol


End file.
